MOF-derived surface modified Ni nanoparticles as an efficient catalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction

Pyrolysis of a Ni based metal organic framework in NH3 yields Ni nanoparticles with surface nitridation together with thin carbon coating layers. The subtle surface modification significantly improves the catalytic performance for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The surface modified Ni nanoparticles show a low overpotential of only 88 mV at a current density of 20 mA cm(-2), which is one of the most efficient HER catalysts based on metallic Ni reported so far. The results suggest that controlled pyrolysis of MOFs is an effective method to prepare highly efficient noble metal free HER catalysts.